Tarleton adds beach volleyball as the 17th intercollegiate sport to compete at Conference USA

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STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton’s growth as a national contender in intercollegiate athletics continues as the university announced the addition of the nation’s fastest-growing Olympic sport, beach volleyball.

Tarleton will join Conference USA as an affiliate member beginning in fall 2023. The beach volleyball season takes place in the spring semester.

Beach volleyball was approved as a varsity-college spring sport in 2009 as an emerging NCAA sport for women in the early stages of competition. It played its first official season in the 2011–12 academic year and hosted its first national championship in 2016.

“This has long been a talking point for our university and we’re excited to finally make it a reality,” said Lonn Reisman, vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics. “Our indoor volleyball program has been a great program with a rich history, and now we’re excited to bring it outdoors in the spring.”

Tarleton joins the ranks of Conference USA as an affiliate to begin her beach journey. C-USA added Beach Volleyball as a sponsored sport for the 2021-22 school year and currently has six competing schools.

“We are so blessed to have the support of President Dr. James Hurley, the Texas A&M University System, C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod and our community,” Reisman continued. “This is another incredible opportunity to offer our female students and athletes the opportunity to pursue competitive athletics to earn their education while competing for the purple and white players.”

Beach volleyball will become the 17th intercollegiate sport at Tarleton State University and the third added sport since moving to NCAA Division I in July 2020, alongside women’s soccer and men’s golf.

Beach volleyball is played with five teams of two student athletes. Flight #1 shows the best pairing from each school, and so on through Flight #5. Teams compete in a three-set match, with the first two being first to 21 points, winning by two, and third set by 15 points. As with the indoor game, rally scoring is used.